Canadian Labour News

OTTAWA ― The Conservative government’s announced reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) amount to tinkering and fail to address fundamental flaws with the program, says Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress.

“The government is trying to patch gaping holes in the integrity of the TFWP with half-hearted reforms,” says Georgetti, “but this falls far short of what is needed.”

OTTAWA ― The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is quite sure its name is among the organizations and individuals on the Harper government’s list of “enemies” provided to new Cabinet Ministers earlier this week. But to confirm it, the CLC has filed formal access to information requests to key government departments, asking them to produce the lists of stakeholders deemed friends and foes by ministerial staff at the request of the Prime Minister’s Office.

OTTAWA ― The President of the Canadian Labour Congress says that the rate of unemployment in Canada remains unacceptably high and that the economy is not producing enough jobs, particularly for younger workers.

Ken Georgetti was commenting on the release by Statistics Canada of its Labour Force Survey for June 2013. There were 1,355,100 unemployed Canadians in June, and the overall unemployment rate remained stuck at 7.1%. In the 15-to-24 age group, unemployment stood at 13.8%, and 48% of young workers are employed part-time.

OTTAWA ― The President of the Canadian Labour Congress says that anti-union Bill C-377 should be withdrawn despite amendments to the legislation introduced in the Senate.

“I do want to thank the Senators for taking seriously their responsibility as legislators," says CLC President Ken Georgetti. "This is a sloppy, poorly drafted piece of legislation and the Senators were not prepared to accept it as is, when it was presented to them. It is regrettable the Senators did not go all the way and defeat a bill that is at best, poor public policy, and political bullying at its worst."

OTTAWA ― The President of the Canadian Labour Congress says that the Fraser Institute has unwittingly made the case for expanding the Canada Pension Plan and making it the preferred retirement savings option.

A report released this week in Switzerland by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has taken aim at Canadian government trends to interfere with strike actions, and the plight of migrant workers.

The ITUC released its annual survey of trade union rights at the annual meeting of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and has reported on trade union violations throughout the world.

The Supreme Court of Canada just upheld important restrictions on management rights in an appeal by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP) against Irving Pulp and Paper and reinforced the importance of collective bargaining in balancing the interests of workers and their employers.

A union grievance had challenged the employer's unilateral, mandatory and random alcohol testing policy. Under the policy, 1 in every 10 employees in select positions were to be randomly chosen for breathalyser testing.

President Ken Georgetti wrote to John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs regarding Canada's position in the current negotiations toward the UN Human Rights Council's annual resolution on violence against women:

OTTAWA ― Canadian investment and insurance firms are expressing alarm over the consequences that will flow from Bill C-377, legislation of the Conservative government that is aimed mainly at labour unions.

OTTAWA ― The President of the Canadian Labour Congress has expressed outrage over a back door attempt by the Conservative government to interfere in labour relations and the established rights of workers to join and remain in a union.

OTTAWA ― The President of the Canadian Labour Congress says that a government bill claiming to promote financial transparency is actually meant to bully and harass unions and their members, and he is calling upon the Senate of Canada to defeat it.

OTTAWA ― The President of the Canadian Labour Congress has expressed outrage over a back door attempt by the Conservative government to interfere in labour relations and the established rights of workers to join and remain in a union.

Ken Georgetti was responding to the introduction of Bill C-525, a private member’s bill to change certification and decertification procedures in the Canada Labour Code, the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act, and the Public Service Labour Relations Act.

OTTAWA ― The Conservative government and its anti-union allies cannot find a single constitutional expert who will agree that Bill C-377 is constitutional, says Ken Georgetti, President of the Canadian Labour Congress.

“This bill singles out unions and their members for discriminatory treatment and it interferes with their right to freedom of association,” says Georgetti. “Every credible expert to appear before parliamentary committees has said so. This is a bird that won’t fly.”

OTTAWA ― The President of the Canadian Labour Congress says that the federal government’s labour market policy is failing young Canadian workers.

“Unemployment remains unacceptably high for younger Canadians and only a small fraction of those without work are able to gain access to Employment Insurance benefits,” says CLC President Ken Georgetti. “The government is abandoning these young workers.”

OTTAWA ― New research conducted by the Canadian Labour Congress shows that in recent years migrant workers are filling most of the new jobs created in the Canadian economy.

“Roughly 75% of the new jobs created in Canada in 2010 and 2011 were filled by temporary foreign workers despite the fact that 1.4 million Canadian residents were unemployed,” says Ken CLC President Ken Georgetti. The CLC research used numbers from the Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey and from Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

OTTAWA ― The president of the Canadian Labour Congress acknowledges changes that the Conservative government has made to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) but says those changes highlight the consequences of the government's failure to properly consult and listen to stakeholders when developing policy and legislation in the first place.